I woke up in my room inside the Sleipnir. The now accustomed comfort of the bed I've been using for some time now is hard to miss.

I hear some voices around me but I'm having some trouble recognizing them. My sight is blurry, and I can see the reboot screen of the Tracer in my right eye.

[Reboot finished, all systems online… welcome back, user]

Good to be back, Hallie. How are you doing?

[Systems 100% online, reporting received damages on somatosensory cortex and primary visual cortex, source unknown psychic assailant, administered 10mg of—]

That’s how i was doing, not you, but forget about it. You are not really going to answer that; just… Hallie, call me Lilith, without honorifics, yeah?

[Acknowledged, Lilith]

I think i managed to smile a bit, but who knows. As my senses start coming back, I see there’s a lot of people inside the room. All the usual faces and even some other crew members are around me, some talking to themselves, some watching me, and the closest one is Yvonne who looks like she’s monitoring me. She notices my blinking and gently caresses my head.

“Hello Commander” She says with a sweet voice, and plants a smile on her aged but delicate ebony face.

All the other people hear her, and most of them salute firmly while others… Well, others are just Novak, he’s just waving a hand while blowing on an electronic cigar; real ones are forbidden inside living quarters after all.

“What’s up?” I ask without much class while getting up. I feel fine, with a bit of joint pain and a mild headache “How’s the rest of the team”

“Just some light wounded, nothing to serious as you can see with our LCDR here” Yvonne answers me, as she is our Chief Medical Officer, of course she knows “Pretty nasty wound he got back there but thankfully we have some highly advanced ointments on the medbay, one of the perks of working with the suits”

“What about the pirates?”

“Reduced to dust” Says Santángel, followed by cheers of the crew “Some of them managed to escape of course, but so reduced in number that they pose no threat to anyone”

“And the kidnapped Valdari are being treated for malnutrition but otherwise they are fine” Intervened Lai “That also includes the Alari duo you rescued, the father wanted me to tell you that he wants to have a word with you when you’ve got some time”

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“Yeah yeah, i’ll do whatever” I waved a hand, really not wanting to do diplomacy right now.

“Well, the Commander needs some space people, delta out, now” Said Santángel, while the crew just nodded and left, leaving only Yvonne, Santángel, Lai, Novak and Dzhabrailov in here.

“Commander, before we leave…” Santángel was already talking but I knew what was on his mind. I had the same thing crawling in mine.

“I’m not sure who that was, but he invaded my mind and I somehow repelled him… i have no idea how, but i can tell you that he called himself Flauros and was a lot stronger than i am”

The expressions on their faces all changed when i mentioned the name Flauros; it was clear that it wasn’t the first time they heard that name.

“Tell me about him” I ordered.

“A wanted terrorist, accused of so many crimes that i’d spend a whole earthen day to list them all, and an accomplished technomancer” Lai was the first to answer “He’s considered a primary target of the Stellar Union, wanted dead or alive, even has a monetary reward attached to his head”

“The reports call him crazy but he’s managed to evade capture for at least thirty years… a simple mad man wouldn’t be able to pull that off” Dzhabrailov added.

“I’m pretty sure he’s not a simple mad man” I had to mention.

“That much is a given” Said Novak “But our Commander’s not simple either” He finished that with a sly smile.

I chuckled, because if not for that strange old man intervening, I doubt i’d be having this conversation now.

“That was most likely a stellar projection and not his physical body, so we have to assume he’s lurking somewhere in this system” Said Santángel.

“What’s a stellar projection? And can’t we just leave?” I asked.

“It’s a master level technomancy skill that allows you to manifest yourself in another place while leaving your body behind, that’s all i know; and yes, we’ve actually established a tentative route out of the system, but we are forced to replenish our fuel first…”

“Rovers did his best getting us out of the pirate carrier, but one of our fuel tanks was damaged and leaked most of its content… we have enough to do a short jump, but we’ll run out of fuel short after” Said Lai while showing me a datapad with a star chart in it, showing the route planned and the service stations placed near us.

“Alright… let’s head asap to one of those and get the hell outta here, pick your favorite and go… now, can i have some privacy?” I said while I stood up with some difficulty. Santángel tried to help me but I held one hand up, stopping him.

They all nodded and left the room, leaving me by myself. I walked around the room to stretch my legs, and to remember what happened in my mind with Flauros and that Von Brugge old guy. I didn’t want to tell the crew the whole story because even I'm not sure what to make of it, and because Lai is sure to relay that information, unknowingly or not, to the board of the Corporation.

The information provided by Flauros was something to stay awake for days, but what irked me the most, was that, for the first time since waking up, i felt my mind clear enough to remember my past life… and i was painful, more painful that i could imagine, and i might have lost my mind if i stayed there. And now, finally safe and completely capable of action, I can't recall those memories again, just the feeling I experienced while in the white room.

Flauros mentioned ‘emotional suppressors’, so I suppose my current lack of memory as well as my convoluted and distorted knot of emotions were placed on purpose by the Dominion Corp while they experimented on me. What else will i find? The thought should be unsettling, a thing of madness, but now I realize that all those strong emotions I feel, are being softened like butter.

I make a fist with both hands, as my resolution to break free of the chain around my neck grows. I’ll make sure they pay, tenfold, everything they’ve done to me. I’ll fucking rip their throats.

Heh, at least it seems that anger is the only emotion not mitigated. Might as well put that to use.

Now, Hallie, I think I learned some skills a while ago right.

[Correct, you’ve registered several new skills two days ago]

...Two days?

Goddamit.